News & Culture
The Skycoin Saga
A cryptocurrency promised to change the world and make its users rich in the process. Then it began to fall apart.
By Morgen Peck
Trying to Assist the Afghan Who Saved Me
Tahir Luddin helped us both escape the Taliban. Now I’m struggling to get his family out of Kabul.
By David Rohde
Mississippi’s Hospital System Is Approaching Failure
Despite the efforts of Miss U.S.A. and the state’s top medical experts, COVID cases are soaring.
By Paige Williams
Why Is It Hard to Be Rational?
The real challenge isn’t being right but knowing how wrong you might be.
By Joshua Rothman
Puzzles & Games
Name Drop
A quiz that tests your knowledge of notable people, published every weekday.
Crossword
A thrice-weekly puzzle that ranges from lightly to considerably challenging.
Cryptic Crossword
A weekly puzzle for lovers of wily wordplay.
Caption Contest
We provide a cartoon, you provide a caption.
Spotlight
An Artist Remakes the Home He Cannot Visit
In “A Broken House,” Mohamad Hafez re-creates Damascus with found objects.
Film by Jimmy Goldblum
Text by Vera Carothers
Is It Time to Break Up Big Ag?
Concentration in agriculture may be a source of rural America’s pro-Trump political backlash.
By Dan Kaufman
How America Failed in Afghanistan
Steve Coll on the catastrophe now likely to engulf Afghan civilians.
By Isaac Chotiner
The Last Underground Rapper
New York City’s Ka has built an astonishing independent hip-hop career.
By Sheldon Pearce
State Republicans Gamble with the Delta Surge
G.O.P. leaders are sticking to an anti-science message.
By Peter Slevin
The Retreat from Afghanistan
It’s a dishonorable end that weakens U.S. standing in the world.
By Robin Wright
Exposing the Human Costs of Incarceration
A law professor documents the loss of life inside jails and prisons in Louisiana.
By Eyal Press
In Focus
The Coronavirus Crisis
Coverage of the COVID-19 outbreak, from the science of vaccines to the culture of quarantine.
Racial Injustice and Policing
Black Lives Matter, police brutality, and the long history of racism in America.
Dept. of Returns
Stories of life after the vaccine.
The Future of Democracy
An exploration of democracy in America.
From This Week’s Issue
Sam Knight on the culture war being waged over British estates, Eyal Press on lives lost behind bars, Heidi Julavits on an Icelandic eruption, and more.
Humor
New York Beaches to Visit Before You Die
Bear Beach, Actual-Fire Island, Demon Bay, and more.
By Jiji Lee and Patrick Clair
The Failed Promise of Statement Pieces
Expectation: feeling like royalty. Reality: looking like a burlap bag.
By Kaitlin Chan
Fauci Declares YouTube Safe After Rand Paul’s Suspension
“Watch as much YouTube as you can while it’s still safe.”
By Andy Borowitz
Finding Your Dream Home in Today’s Market
You may start out skeptical, but before too long a miracle occurs.
By Merrill Markoe
A History of Alt-Milk
2030: Out-of-work Borden mascot Elsie the Cow introduces subscription service OnlyFlans.
By Henry Alford
Fiction & Poetry
“From Another Approach”
“The year is still the perpetual now / refusing to escape its frame.”
By Mary Jo Bang
Emma Cline on Our Unknowable Selves
The author discusses her story from the latest issue of the magazine.
By Willing Davidson